Shooting Trajectory is Visible - Chapter 54



Only Krnovel

Yoo Jin-ho happily watched Kim Min-woo’s interview with his arms folded. Fortunately, the interview was conducted in Korean and the interpreter next to him recited it in German, so there was no difficulty in understanding.

“Is it because you weren’t originally an athlete? Your teeth are nice. When you first debut, you’re supposed to look a bit awkward and clumsy. Tsk.”

Kim Min-woo’s interview skills, visible through the monitor, were already at a professional level.

It was smooth, soft, and a little rough, but also bold. It was exactly the level of youthful energy.

[The person who helped me get here······.]

Eugene Ho smiled brightly.

Yoo Jin-ho already knew who would come out of there. He just smiled and closed his eyes, preparing to savor it.

[The interpreter next to me right now. Due to circumstances······.]

“What the fuck?”

Eugene Yoo, who was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, opened his eyes wide at the sudden sound. He also pressed his face close to the monitor.

“What is this kid talking about now?”

Me! Me!? Who raised you!?

And then he started talking about his family. Are you really leaving me out of this?

Did this kid forget his tadpole days because he went to Germany? What did he do to get sick from the moon?

[···Oh, and. I have a mentor. He is coach Yoo Jin-ho. He is the one who led me to the world of soccer. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be here now. I would probably still be studying at school with my books open. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to coach Yoo Jin-ho.]

Phew. Right. That’s it.

Eugene Ho sighed in relief and leaned back in his chair again.

“Oh, kid. Really. I heard you have the ability to scare people.”

Anyway, he’s a guy born with the makings of a superstar.

Why didn’t Na Hoon-a do that? A superstar is someone who drives both the fans and the critics crazy.

If he’s still like this, it’s clear that he’ll become a superstar in the future.

And then the phone rang.

It was the person who was the executive director of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. Yoo Jin-ho cleared his throat and quickly answered the phone.

“Yes, sir.”

-Kim Min-woo is really good. So coach Yoo discovered that player?

“Yes, yes. That’s right, sir. It’s embarrassing, but it’s true.”

-Yes. I was watching Kim Min-woo’s interview, and he calls Director Yoo a teacher. He taught him a great way to develop his character.

“I don’t know what to do with myself when the managing director praises me like that… I’m embarrassed. Haha.”

-What is there to be embarrassed about? Coach Yoo has a good eye for players.

Eugene Ho and the executive director on the other end of the phone continued their conversation. And then.

-Oh, and by the way.

I swallowed hard. It seemed like something important was about to happen.

-The stork’s string fell off.

Finally! Yoo Jin-ho’s face lit up like the moon. However, expressing his emotions was something only a lowlife would do. He immediately opened his mouth in a serious voice.

“···Is that how it is?”

– Yes. The atmosphere of Korean soccer was really good after advancing to the round of 16 in the World Cup, but this has really poured cold water on it. The national team led by Stork is called the greatest golden generation in history, but does it make sense to lead such a team and not win a single gold medal in the Asian Games?

“The managing director is right. Director Hwang, you went a bit too far.”

Here, I didn’t say anything like, “If I had led, we would have won the gold medal.” In this important situation, it would be right not to say anything that could be criticized.

-There’s a whole truckload of kids who should be receiving military service benefits······ Oh my. Anyway, the press release will be released around the end of October. Please prepare in the meantime. Are you sure Han Seung-woo will sign a pro contract?

“Yes, yes. They say they’re taking Han Seung-woo and Kim Jun-young from Suwon and Seonyang. Han Seung-woo will sign a professional contract right after graduating from high school, and Kim Jun-young will sign a semi-pro contract for now.”

-That’s enough justification. I trust your ability. Please prove it. Shouldn’t the newly launched ship bring joy to the people?

“I will definitely do that, sir.”

– The head coach position is vacant. And coach Yoo’s position will be determined based on future performance. I will closely watch the Asian Cup performance next year and the Olympic performance. Please assist the newly appointed coach well.

“Yes, sir. But······ Has a new director been decided?”

-Nothing has been decided yet. I will contact you once it is decided.

“Yes, sir! Come in!”

And then contact was lost.

Yoo Jin-ho put his phone down on the desk and sighed. He was walking around the room without realizing it.

Eugene Ho, sitting on the chair, picked up the cigarette pack again. It was empty.

“Ah. I got tired of watching the game. Wow.”

Eugene Ho was blankly staring at the monitor that was showing the highlights.

The highlight was practically Kim Min-woo’s solo performance.

“You little bastard.”

Just looking at it makes me feel good.

Thanks to that guy, I ended up on a huge ship.

Of course, it was thanks to my own efforts that I was able to get to this point with the stakes called Kim Min-woo, but if I hadn’t had the stakes in the first place, I wouldn’t have even been able to sit down.

As a captain who sailed on a small boat, he will start off as a mere sailor on the large ship he will board this time, but if he proves his ability and gets good grades, he can be promoted to first-class navigator.

This was what the executive director had promised.

Maybe it will work out well again?

You might be able to become the captain of this mighty ship.

Eugene Ho smiled happily and got up from his chair to look for cigarettes.

***

After the game, I had to receive countless calls. In other words, my phone was on fire.

Family. Suyang High School colleagues. Coaches who guided me. Relatives. Elementary, middle, and high school classmates.

All the fateful relationships in my life came together and contacted me.

‘They say that even a passing glance is fate…’

When I got a call from Kim A-mu and Park A-mu, whose names and faces were vague, I wondered, “Who on earth are they?”

[Eugene Ho: Hey, you punk. Congratulations. ^^]

[Kim Jun-young: Hyung! I really enjoyed watching the game. Congratulations on your debut!!!]

[Go Young-jun: The Bundesliga is really going to be devoured; that was just empty words]

[Han Seung-woo: Well done.. I admit it.]

There were so many messages that it was hard to scroll down with my fingers. I had a hard time replying to each one, so I didn’t bother to go into the chatroom and read the messages.

I’ll reply tomorrow.

[Kim Shin-ah: Why is there no reply? -_-]

[Kim Shin-ah: See how people change]

[Kim Shin-ah: Is this what a monthly salary is now?]

Of course this one is an exception. It’s so noisy I could die.

[Kim Min-woo: Ah, you’re being so dirty, go and get some sleep]

[Kim Shin-ah: Hahaha!]

[Kim Min-woo: Aren’t you going to school tomorrow? Isn’t it dawn in Korea?]

[Kim Shin-ah: Okay, you can just suck on an energy drink on your way to school]

[Kim Min-woo: I’m tired so I won’t use KakaoTalk anymore]

[Kim Shin-ah: But what about that interpreter??]

[Kim Min-woo: ??Why]

[Kim Shin-ah: The atmosphere is a bit awkward. Are you dating?]

As soon as I saw that KakaoTalk message, I sighed.

[Kim Min-woo: Does it look like that?]

[Kim Shin-ah: No, that’s not it]

[Kim Shin-ah: But she’s pretty. I think you like her, lol]

[Kim Min-woo: Haha, are you trying to keep me in check?]

[Kim Shin-ah: What the heck]

[Kim Min-woo: When is your mom coming?]

[Kim Shin-ah: MRL]

I ended the KakaoTalk conversation with Kim Shin-ah and looked at the ceiling.

‘Sophie likes me?’

If you look around, it seems like there might be such a misunderstanding.

Sophie’s presence was absolute in terms of daily life, as she was always with me for work, taught me the language, and actively helped me with any inconveniences I had in my daily life.

If there were people around you who knew about this situation, you might mistake them for being in a relationship.

‘Sophie’s just too nice.’

Perhaps this misunderstanding will end soon.

The club is not a charity organization.

I don’t know when that will be, but Sophie, who has been actively supporting me, will return to her original work.

When Mom comes, that period will become even shorter.

‘First of all, I have no intention of dating right now.’

It has already been proven through many cases that the words of soccer players who fell in love with the opposite sex during their childhood are not very good.

People say that soccer players get married young and early, but I’m still too young.

I would date if I wanted to, but honestly, I don’t think Kim Min-woo, a Korean who has lived his whole life in Korea, would date a foreign woman just because he ate a little foreign food.

It wasn’t even in my category to begin with.

“Eww!”

I stretched out.

I lay on the mattress and laughed.

“Actually, this is love to me.”

I looked at Football Manager with a half-smile.

After today’s game, I fell in love. The subject was, of course, Football Manager. More specifically, Stats.

In just one game, I was able to gain a whopping 17 stats.

Even if I trained like crazy every day, I could only get about 5 at most, but in just one match, I got three times that and two more.

It was a situation where I couldn’t help but laugh.

Especially considering the amount and difficulty of training.

Rolling around so exhausted that I can’t even move a finger, and then when I regain my strength, I have to repeat that hellish cycle endlessly… Ugh. Just recalling the memory makes me feel like I’m going to throw up.

The total number of stats I gained from defeating the giant called Dortmund is 17.

And the increased stats are as follows:

Stamina from 63 → 64.

Stamina from 66 → 69.

GK kicks from 58 → 64.

GK diving from 56 → 61.

GK speed from 58 → 60.

‘With this, there are no more 50s in my stats. They are all in the 60s.’

Just looking at the stats made all the fatigue in my body disappear.

Why, there’s a saying that between lovers, just looking at each other is enough, and that’s exactly how I looked at Stats.

Just looking at it is nice. It makes me feel happy. It makes me laugh for no reason···.

Even the saliva is collected. Sigh.

***

The next day, regional and local newspapers in Germany covered the match between Dortmund and Hannover in detail.

The result was that Hannover defeated Dortmund in a 0:0 penalty shootout.

However, while the result was one thing, most media outlets focused on the 17-year-old Korean goalkeeper who created this result.

In any newspaper case, they put Kim Min-woo’s body as big as a door on the front page, and then behind it, they used a photo of Kim Min-woo shouting at Corsic on the day of the game along with the Taegeukgi.

“Kim, a brilliant debut! A rookie goalkeeper who turned the game around with a dazzling performance reminiscent of Neuer”

《A 17-year-old young boy who came from Korea to Germany showed an amazingly outstanding performance in his debut······.》

It was a hot topic in Germany too, but the Korean community was especially excited because Kim Min-woo did much better than people expected.

Soccer fans were already burning the flames of hope for the next World Cup.

There were also many posts about things inside and outside the game.

“Hannover 96 Jan Rytl’s press conference”

“Kim has had an amazing debut, do you think you will give her more opportunities?”

Because it was an unexpected victory, the atmosphere in the press conference was very good.

“Kim’s performance was impressive and surprising to me as a manager. I think this match will reset the perception of Kim at the club level.”

“So, is Hannover now entering a serious goalkeeper competition? Is Chiller also not safe?”

Director Jan Lytle was professional, handling the tough questions gently.

“Chiller is the captain of Hannover and a veteran. It is true that Kim had a great debut, but Kim is still a young goalkeeper and has a lot to learn from Chiller.”

“So, is it safe to assume that there will be no new opportunities for Kim for the time being?”

“As a coach, I can’t give you any definite answer right now, but if Kim continues to show good form in our own training, I’m sure there will be another opportunity.”

“I would like to ask you about the tactics and player composition for this match. The reason why the team is composed entirely of sub-members······.”

And that wasn’t all.

The entire community was Kim Min-woo.

Posts related to Kim Min-woo have flooded the soccer community.

“How handsome is Kim Min-woo?”

Starting with external, small things.

“Kim Min-woo’s crazy save in the second half of extra innings! (Video O) (Commentary O)”

There is also a video of Kim Min-woo’s save.

“Hanover cheering sound ㄷㄷ”

Even the voices of support inside the stadium.

“Kim Min-woo’s last penalty shootout save, Germany commentary!”

Plus, local commentary.

The comments were very, very positive.

→Isn’t this the level of a pro? A 17-year-old is doing that well in his pro debut?

→Kim Min-woo Kim Min-woo Kim Min-woo!

→Welcome to the Doyouknow Club, Minwoo

→ Soon, foreign YouTubers will flock to Hanoverㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

→I have to go there and fill up on my patriotism.. I’ll go watch the video as soon as it’s uploaded

Kim Shin-ah didn’t get much sleep last night, but she wasn’t terribly tired.

I was drinking an energy drink and now I’m reading the comments.

The comments were a virtual energizer.

“Haha.”

→You’re 17 now, and goalkeepers retire later than field players, right? Then how many World Cups have you been to? Theoretically, 6 times?

→Let’s go for 6 consecutive penalty shootout wins lol

A smile that naturally appears on the lips.

Checking comments has become a daily routine for Kim Shin-ah.

Actually, I used to have negative feelings towards things like nationalism and such, but now I don’t have negative feelings at all.

Now I fully understand why people rely on nationalism for their hearts.

“How can you put up with this?”

Kim Shin-ah took screenshots of all the comments she liked and planned to post them in her family group chat when she got home from school.

“Hey, Shin-ah! What are you doing!”

Ouch.

Shin-ah was surprised and quickly hid her cell phone in her desk drawer. It was a friend from a dance club.

He soon replied with an awkward smile.

“Yeah. I was studying a foreign language···.”

It wasn’t a wrong statement, as German local reporters also checked it thoroughly.

End

ⓒ Doctor Am

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